Assembly To Take Up Landlord-Tenant Bill

A bill that would change the landscape of landlord-tenant relations will be taken up by the state Assembly Tuesday.

One provision of the bill would make it legal for landlords to start eviction proceedings via mail instead of in person.

Rep. Eric Genrich (D-Green Bay) says such a move was found unconstitutional in Iowa and would be a "serious infringement on due process."

But Rob Kovach, policy advisor for Sen. Frank Lasee (R-De Pere) says the change is consistent with other small claims procedures.

"An eviction action is a small claims action and that's how it's done for all other small claims actions so it didn't seem unusual for that to be the same standard," says Kovach.

Under the bill, landlords would not have to disclose building defects on a property unless the defects were identified by a building inspector, and landlords would be permitted to seize tenant-owned property in the case of an eviction.